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Boredom prevention

Some dogs (terriers and collies for example) need to be busy and virtually all dogs need companionship and play with a suitable canine friend. If a dog does not have enough to do, he will find other, often destructive ways to amuse himself. He may also cope with boredom by attention seeking, barking, constantly licking himself, pacing or tail chasing. Alternatively he may become depressed and although this may not directly affect you as the owner, it’s just not right to let your dog get this way.

All dogs can become bored or distressed if they are left alone for long periods during the day (and also the night, if their owners make them sleep away from the rest of the family). Dogs Trust does not recommend that any dog should be left alone for longer than 4 hours at a time. If you must leave a dog alone, some of the following ideas may help to break up the time for him.

How can we prevent a dog getting bored?

Dogs are natural scavengers and if allowed to ‘go wild’ a dog would quite happily keep busy all day looking around for food. This is something that comes naturally, so imagine how awful it is for them to only have one quick meal a day at the same time and place every day. What would you do with the rest of your long, dull day?

Problem solving to find food is a very natural thing for dogs to do and so we can use this in many ways to encourage them to use their brains and keep them happy. It is also why using food as a reward during training is so effective. To keep a dog from being bored and out of trouble in the home, you need to devise all sorts of fun and interesting ways to use part of his daily food ration.

Remember that a dog who has to work too hard for his food when he is starving hungry may become frustrated and possibly aggressive, so always make sure that he has had a ‘work-free’ meal about half an hour before using these methods.

Why not try the following? Be as imaginative as you can and come up with your own ways to amuse your best friend.

Things to try in the home and garden

Outdoors fun and games

Advanced training and doggy activities

Associated factsheets:

Beating boredom factsheet (opens new browser window)